


Beauty & Bananoir

by emsylcatac



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: (i guess there's angst uh), Beauty & the Beast AU, Crack, Crack and Angst, F/M, Fluff and Crack, Romance, seriously this is very silly
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-11
Updated: 2020-05-16
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:21:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 8,180
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23594509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emsylcatac/pseuds/emsylcatac
Summary: Marinette, your averagecollègestudent, is interning as a fashion apprentice for the famous designer Gabriel Agreste. She never expected to meet Bananoir—a boy who was turned into a giant banana by the evil Candy Moth—one evening while entering the Agreste's mansion...nor to develop such strongpeelingsfor the boy while trying to uncover the mysteries around his odd presence in her mentor's house.* * * * *Beauty & the Beast AU except it's Beauty & Bananoir. Expect a tiny bit of angst, some romance, a LOT of dumb and an unhealthy amount of banana and fruits puns.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Alya Césaire/Nino Lahiffe
Comments: 23
Kudos: 38





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be [one silly post](https://emsylcatac.tumblr.com/post/190484759940/tale-as-old-as-time-song-as-old-as-rhyme-beauty) amongst others on Tumblr and it _somehow_ became a whole crack fic.
> 
> Dedicated to janaikam (AO3 j_majka) and amimons on Tumblr because if two persons are to blame for me writing this it's them. 
> 
> (Also it's literally the fic that slowly made me start to write so I guess I had to share it on AO3 too haha).
> 
> This story hasn't been beta-read so I apologise in advance for any English mistake; I tried to correct and improve the writing compared to how it was at first when I posted on Tumblr in a silly and rush way. The writing will still stay very stupid though aha.
> 
> I will update this once every two days until I'll have caught up with where I am right now.

* * *

**— Introduction & prologue of the story —**

* * *

The story takes place in Paris. Obviously.

Adrien never got to go to public school. One day, tired of modeling, he steals a banana costume from an adjoining lodge and uses it to wander a bit in town _incognito_. Surely no one would pay attention to a random banana in the crowded streets of Paris. _Wrong._

As expected, his evil father found out about it and became _furious and ashamed_. To teach his son a lesson, he changed him into Bananoir so Adrien would know what it's really like to live in a ridiculous banana costume all the time instead of being the handsome puppet Gabriel made of him.

Gabe was secretly in fact the evil Candy Moth, capable of transforming people into what he wanted because…because he is the guy with dark magic powers you hear about in every fairy tales without knowing why nor where his powers come from.

The deal was:

_"Find a girl capable of loving you for the ungrateful ridiculous dork you are and you may be considered my ~~puppet~~ son again and have your appearance back. However I’ll lock you up in your prison of a room in the mansion because I don’t want people to associate you with me, I need my dignity. Also, you’ll have a time limit: here is the magic banana. It will loose one strand of banana peel every full moon and when the banana is completely peeled, you’ll stay Bananoir forever.”_

Meanwhile, thanks to his evil powers, Gabriel also creates Félix, a bratty copy of Adrien that he’s using to model for him to avoid media suspicions (and because he still needs a model).

Now, Marinette: pretty much the same as in canon. Daughter of bakers. Goes to Françoise Dupont collège. Aspiring fashion designer. Big fan of Gabriel Agreste and crushes on his son from afar (at least she thinks he’s cute). _Yes, you know where I’m going with this._

After winning a fashion competition for youngsters organised by Gabriel, she gets the unique opportunity to be his intern. She doesn’t work in the Agreste Mansion for obvious reasons but wherever Gabriel has his company. She finds Félix super annoying and is disappointed to learn her magasine crush is a jerk.

One evening, Gabe forgets some designs sketches and Marinette makes it her mission to give him back no matter what (she wants to make good impression and he is super scary to her). So, on a chilly winter evening, she finds the address of the mansion and rings. And rings. _And rings_. Until finally, the doors open. She enters the house but finds it empty and dark _at first_.

But soon, she feels, or rather _peels_ , a presence looming over her…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...Yes yes I told you it was not written as a fic at first but it will afterwards. I don't know wether to feel sorry or not to share this with you, but well, it made some people laugh so who knows...welcome to the bananadventure!


	2. Part 2

Marinette is now in the mansion and after having called for Gabriel Agreste’s name 3 times with no sign from him, she is starting to seriously wonder if there’s a joke somewhere—surely the doors didn’t open by themselves. But suddenly, at the top of the stairs, she is startled by a shadow getting bigger and bigger…in the shape of what she thinks is a giant croissant. Even if she has dealt with croissants a lot from living in a bakery and has eaten plenty of them in her life, she is still a bit scared because it’s _not so normal_. Marinette being Marinette, her mind starts to run wild: 

"What if it is a giant croissant coming for me for having eaten so many tiny croissants? _Oh my rice flour_ , what if it's their _mother_ and I’ve eaten her _babies_ and now she seeks revenge? What do I do? Is apologising acceptable when you’ve digest one’s children?”

During her panicking thoughts process, the mother croissant, who was in fact Bananoir to the surprise of all the audience who had not predicted this plot twist, steps into view. Seeing each other for the first time, both of them naturally _scream_ at the top of their lungs pointing at one another. Then, just like in every cliché romantic meeting, they start to speak at the same time saying the exact same thing like every person destined to each other does: 

“Who are you and what are you doing here? Hey, I asked you first! Stop copying me! I’m not copying you, _you_ are copying me!”   
Until Marinette pauses for a second and… “Wait. Is that a _banana_ costume?”

And if that isn’t the biggest revelation and shock to her. Because suddenly she understands why Gabe is always cold, distant, and almost never to be seen. He has a secret: he moonlights as a banana during the evenings. Don’t get her wrong, she isn’t one to judge, but it _is_ a bizarre activity.

“Do you want to be _fruits_?” is what interrupts her wild discovery and stops her dead in her tracks. Seeing her lack of reaction, ‘Bananabriel’ continues uncertainly: 

“I mean.. Do you want to be friends? I’m Bananoir, by the way.” 

Ok so there’s no way that this guy is her mentor but who he is, Marinette has no clue. Somehow she isn’t surprised that someone dressed so ridiculously would make fruit puns and maybe he’s attempting to be _smoothie_ and all but all it does is giving her very wide eyes.

Both of them are then suddenly startled by the sound of a car and a garage door opening: Gabriel is coming back. Bananoir quickly goes down the stairs and tells her to promise to never speak about her encounter with him to anyone, and certainly _not_ to Gabriel Agreste. Not sure about what to say or understand, she agrees with him but asks if she could stay so she can give him back his sketches.   
With the utmost serious look Bananoir can muster given his frozen dumb face’s expression and peachy smile, he warns her: 

“Trust me, you don’t want him to find you here. Give it back to him tomorrow at his work place if you must, but right now, you can’t stay. So why don’t you make like _a banana and split_ while you still can?”

So she does exactly that just on time. But on her way home, her thoughts come back to this strange person. While she maybe knows she shouldn’t come back, she is deeply intrigued by her encounter with the mysterious Bananoir. What was this ~~furry~~ _fruity_ doing at Garbiel Agreste’s mansion? Who is he? And most importantly, why must his presence be kept a secret…? Marinette must investigate…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...So the writing is still very rushed and mostly in the present tense haha no worries it will get better afterwards; it's just that I hadn't planned on continuing at first. But I felt that trying to rewrite this one would just...loose some of the dumb of it all.
> 
> Again, next part will be in 2 days!


	3. Part 3

Marinette arrived early the next day and put the sketches _exactly_ where Gabriel forgot them; she wouldn’t want him to think that she tried to steal them! She is not a thief! (Well, except for that one time when she had to steal Chloé’s phone because the teacher asked the class to send a ‘get well soon’ message to her since she was ill and Marinette had _accidentally_ typed ‘go to hell cloon’ but really who could blame her, touchscreens were hard sometimes and the letters so closed).

She couldn’t help but side-eyeing Gabe very suspiciously during the whole day because seriously, who hides a banana boy in his house? Certainly not her, she has more fashion tastes than that! Well, she couldn’t exactly say that to her idol and fashion mentor’s face but he _had_ fallen from her esteem. She would have at least added a few blue horizontal strips on the banana as well as a red beret because she is that kind of fashion French icon: original _and_ totally in her country's trends.

At the end of the day, Marinette had had more than enough. She had been sent to take some measurements on Adrien (who was in fact Félix but she couldn’t know that) for measuring practices and she _hated_ it. He was arrogant, he thought he was better than anyone else, and couldn’t stop flirting heavily with her. To make it worse, three girls were fawning all over him hoping he would notice them. She could recognise her classmates Chloé and Lila, as well as a girl from another class whose name she forgot but couldn’t care less.

To pass the time more pleasantly, she decided to plot. Tonight, she would follow Gabriel. She would study his schedule and his every moves so she could know when he was _not_ home.

* * * * *

Meanwhile, Bananoir was seriously getting bored alone in his house. He only barely sees his Father who is avoiding him in shame (not that he saw him much before anyway), and his assistant Nathalie drops his food and leaves very quickly. As if she would herself transform instantly in a banana if she looked him in the eyes. He hadn’t even seen his bodyguard since his unfortunate transformation.

His only salvation is thinking about this girl who came unexpectedly in the mansion. She seemed very nice and really looked like she could become a _very good friend_. Too bad she couldn’t come back… 

Sometimes, he could see a small gorilla plushie moving around the house. It was weird, because plushies are not supposed to walk, but then again he isn’t supposed to be a banana himself. At first he was a bit afraid because what if it was a ploy from his Candy Moth Father to have some predators trying to eat him or his precious magic banana? Monkeys are known to only eat bananas and nothing else, right? But after trying and failing to hide for a few days, he figured that the plushie wasn’t that dangerous. It was rather quiet and followed him around, but at least he had some company and _peelt_ a little bit less alone…

* * * * *

One week later, Marinette had all the patterns figured out: while she didn’t exactly know where Gabriel spent his evenings, she knew that he wasn’t home between 6 to 8pm every evenings. It was the ideal time to strike and break in the mansion again.

Since this Bananoir guy seemed so found of bananas, she decided to bake him some banana macaroons: a speciality from the bakery. Because even if she was coming uninvited in a house, it didn’t mean that she had forgotten her manners! 

After that, she headed out in the direction of the mansion, determined to see again Bananoir and solve this mystery once and for all. She almost turned back and gave up the mission once or twice on her way (because seriously if Gabe finds out she’ll definitely be _flambéed_ ), but she couldn’t let her efforts of the week be all _fruitless_ …

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...Yes yes I'm a very serious person why do you ask?


	4. Part 4.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha I realized I've been lazy and hadn't updated this crack thing, sorry here is the next part oops-

Just like the first time, Marinette entered the Agreste mansion by ringing: because even if she was in a way breaking in, once again, she is polite. Since Bananoir was lonely (apart from that gorilla plushie that I’m sure none of you have guessed the identity of yet), he still let her enter despise knowing it was a bit dangerous. After all, all he had to do was protecting his secret and the fact that he was the son of Gabriel Agreste, right? Easy peachy!

Marinette didn't know whether to be surprised or not that Bananoir was still in his banana costume. Didn’t this boy take it off sometimes? Sure, she loved being in her PJs at home but that kind of outfit must not be very comfy. She decided to initiate the conversation while he was coming down the stairs:

“Hello… Bananoir.. I hope you don’t mind me visiting..? My name is Marinette!” (she was still cringing on his name but if he was that deep into his fruity character then who was she to judge).

“ _Yellow_!! You came back! I’m really happy to see you again, but ~~my fath-~~ errr, Monsieur Agreste, comes back in 2h and you _must_ be gone by then,” he informed her.

… Ok so there was definitely something fishy about her fashion idol. But maybe asking right away ‘why’ wouldn’t be a smart move and might scare him off. She chose to inform him instead that she came with macarons to share because she indeed wanted to be his friend. They then went in the living-room, and _wow_ , Marinette thought, _if that isn’t a_ huge _table for a so small family_.

She pulled out the macarons and after offering him one, took one herself.

“Uh”, Bananoir said after biting into his, “are those.. _banana_ flavoured?”

“Oh yes, sorry I didn’t tell you. I figured that since you seem to like bananas so much, I couldn’t go wrong.. Do you not like them?” Marinette worried a bit. What if she got him all wrong?

“It’s just that.. I don’t really…eat bananas, you know? I…it makes me uncomfortable. I’m sorry, you took the time to bake these to me and.. I’m being unpeelite.” Bananoir really looked genuinely sorry about it. Maybe he was more into his role than she first thought.

“..Oh, no no, don’t worry, sorry I… I’ll make chocolate next time; can’t go wrong with chocolate, right?”

“Next time?” and seeing his face lighting up that much even through the banana costume, she really wondered if this weird person saw anyone in his life because it was a strong reaction. “I’d love too! Thank you so much!”

They made small talks until she started taking another macarons; he might not eat them but it didn’t mean she had to let them go to waste! Until she realised that he had gone silent and she could feel his look on her behind those wide banana eyes.

“..Is there…something wrong?” She asked.

“… I...it’s just that seeing you eating…bananas macarons...knowing that a lot of bananas have been terribly—t _erribly!—_ crushed and blended and..”, he had to stop a little and Marinette could almost see legit _tears_ in his eyes. She clearly had misunderstood his love for bananas. Was this boy considering them one of his _~~peels~~_ peers? (she really outed to stop having puns coming to her mind because of him).

“… A-And it’s s-sad you know? To know they all… _died_ …”, he continued. Ok Marinette almost interrupted him to tell him that _technically_ , banana was a _fruit_ so the actual _tree_ wasn’t dead but she felt like she might come off a bit insensitive. “.. I feel like… I feel like somehow, you’re eating a part of _me,_ ” and he whispered the last word as if he was utterly _ashamed_ and _sad_ that Marinette couldn’t feel angry with him.

“Oh my god, oh my god. I’m so so sorry, I didn’t know! Wait, do you mean when you ate the macarons you felt like you were doing _cannibalism_? That’s terrible, I feel so bad! Of course I’ll stop, it’s awful!”, and she really meant it! How would she feel watching, say, a lion eating a child? _BAD_ and _disgusted_ and horrified, that’s how!!

“Thank you for understanding, I’m so sorry again it’s not your fault” he confessed with a relieved smile. “Not everybody would understand and...you do, and you’re _here_ , and you want to come back...you’re not scared of me! Thank you…”, and if that didn’t break Marinette’s heart in _pieces_. Were there people afraid of him? Was… _Gabriel Agreste_ one of these people?

“Of course, you’re welcome. Thank you for telling me...but...you know you’re not actually a banana, right..?”, she still wanted to be sure.

“…It’s complicated,” is what he answered.

Well that didn’t help her at all. She tried something else.

“What are you doing here at the Agreste’s? Do you think you could tell me why...you don’t want Gabriel Agreste to know I know and you know I know you’re here?”

“…That’s complicated. I’m sorry, I can’t tell you more. I wish I could but.. I can’t.”

Wow there was really something weird going on around here. Seeing how utterly _broken_ this bananaboi looked, she was even more determined to find out. Not that she could let him know…

“Don’t worry, it’s ok. Can you tell me if you’re "friends" with his son maybe?” She really wanted to know what he thought of Adrien. She couldn’t stand him! After her first day of internship, the first thing she did when coming back home was tearing apart all the pictures she had of him in her room. He was a really nasty boy and she was dying to talk about it with someone who might understand.

“His what?”, Bananoir asked.

“His son? Gabriel Agreste’s son,” She clarified.

“…What is a ‘son’?”, he dared asking after a moment of hesitation.

“…You don’t know what a son is.” Wow. Marinette couldn’t believe it. Maybe he didn’t have parents. Or maybe they were giant bananas as well and abandoned him in the jungle to monkeys’ mercy or something, at this point she would be ready to believe anything.

“No? Should I? Do you think I can be a son?”, and he sounded _genuine_.

“Adrien Agreste is Gabriel Agreste’s son. I’m my parents’ daughter. You have parents, right?” When he nods, she continued; “Then you are your parents’ son!”

Bananoir stayed quiet a little to digest this apparently ground-breaking revelation. He learnt a new word today! And he was a son! It sounded so beautiful to his _p_ ears. “I am a son,” he repeated after a while. Marinette could imagine a brilliant smile appearing on his face. “I am glad,” he said softly and he sounded so _happy_ that it broke her heart even more. Who on _Earth_ didn’t know what that was?

They’re interrupted by Marinette’s phone alarm ringing: it was time for her to go. While going to the entrance and the front door, she saw a gorilla plushie next to it. It was cute but she swore that it wasn’t here when she arrived. _Weird._

After Bananoir thanked her again for visiting and she promised to come back, she stepped out into the night.

“ _BANANUIT_!” she heard him calling to her. She turned back to see him waving at her.

“Don’t you mean… _bonne nuit_?” she called back. He shook his head.

“No. _Bananuit_!” Ok, she guessed it’ll have to do with her.

“Yeah… Good night.”

And with that, she turned around and headed back home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Bonne nuit_ means good night in French. Yes, I used that only to make a bad pun.


	5. Part 5.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me completely forgetting to update this? More likely than you think...

Since that day, Marinette and Bananoir continued to see each other in secret three to four evenings a week. She would bring chocolate macarons or passion fruits ones after learning that it was his favourite. They shared stories, jokes or puns (mostly puns).

One day, while she was in the middle of retelling the story of how she ended up burning her Father’s moustache after trying to caramelise a crème brûlée with a blowtorch (she almost burnt herself because she was holding it the wrong way first so the moustache wasn’t too bad of a casualty compared to that), the gorilla plushie jumped on the table to steal a macaron and eat it. Naturally, as one does when a moving plushie appears on a table to _eat_ something, Marinette jumped ten feet off the ground with a screech that would put even a mandragora to shame.

“Sweet vanilla macaron what in the ever loving _Bourgeois hotel_ is this??!! WHY does it move? Is it a sort of monkey? Will it eat you?” Marinette was panicking. This was not normal! She was barely starting to get used to talk to a banana boy!

“Ooooh no don’t worry about it, it’s a gorilla plushie that...moves...and eats...it’s been in the house for a while..”, Bananoir replied not at all concerned.

“… And you think this is _NORMAL_?! Hellooo! It’s an object!! It shouldn’t be able to move and it should certainly _NOT_ be able to _eat anything_!!”

Had this boy lost his mind?! Well, she knew that somehow, yes he had (he thought eating bananas was cannibalism for fruits’ sake), but this was another story!

“…Well considering that I’m a banana I don’t see how this is less normal,” Bananoir mumbled under his breath. Marinette wasn’t sure if she was supposed to catch that but she did and—he must be _kidding_ her. Taking a deep breath, she replied:

“That’s because you’re wearing a _banana costume_. You’re not a _real_ banana. This… _THIS!!_ … _thing!_ Is a _literal_ plushie. Not a small cat in a gorilla costume. Even less a _person_ in a disguise. So whatever... _that_ is…it shouldn’t be _moving_!”

The plushie was now staring at her with a bored look as if she was crazy. _Ha! The audacity!_ It was little bit ironic if you asked her.

Bananoir kept silent, staring ahead of her with his smile _still_ frozen in place.

With a sign of the head, the small gorilla hopped off the table in the direction of the exit. Once it was at the door, it turned around and made another sign of the head.

“I think…it wants us to follow it!”, Marinette exclaimed.

Maybe this weird thing would finally give her a lead on all this bananery going around? She was ready to take any opportunity. She stood up and started following it.

“Hum, I don’t really think….” Bananoir tried to interject, but Marinette was already gone. He sighed, and started to stand up to follow her, but got tangled in the chair and promptly fell face first on the floor, the chair following suit above him. In his fall, he tried to catch the first thing he could and ended up grabbing the tablecloth. Like in every comedic situation in average stories, everything that was on the table ended up falling on top of him as well. Bananoir sighed deeply. _Peachy_.

* * * * *

The gorilla plushie led Marinette up the stairs. She wasn’t sure if she was allowed to go there, but she wasn’t even supposed to be in the mansion in the first place. And she felt like finally, she would start to understand what was going on!

One thing was sure, this place was _huge_. And cold. Really, Bananoir was so random in this environment and the only colour present in the house. The plushie suddenly stopped in front of a door and mentioned for her to open it. Rising an eyebrow at it questioningly, she decided to go for it after taking a deep breath. What was the worst that she could find? A room full of banana-people begging her to join their private club while presenting her a costume as well? A sanctuary cult in the honor of the great Bananathenas for who you need to sacrifice your dignity by wearing a costume similar to Bananoir’s? She started to imagine every possible scenario.

What she didn’t expect though was to see a half-peeled banana under a glass coffin in the center of the room that looked like a boy’s room. The gorilla plushie trotted towards it and stopped in front of it. Marinette decided to approach it as well.

“What can _that_ be and what does it mean?” she murmured. “It looks like it’s glowing and… Oh did the Banana just _peeled_ itself?!”

Seriously what was going on. First a boy in a banana costume. Then a moving gorilla plushie. Was this banana _alive_ somehow as well? Was it dangerous? Otherwise she didn’t see why it needed to be contained! Her thoughts were interrupted by a voice:

“Please don’t touch it!!” Bananoir shouted, out of breath and with half-destroyed macarons on top of his head. Marinette startled.

“What? Are you going to tell me this is your child?” she deadpanned.

Bananoir took a deep breath. “Okay. Have you heard about Candy Moth?” he asked her.

“…As in, the legend of Candy Moth? The monster capable of turning kids into candy canes if they behave badly? You know that this is a myth made up for children to be good, right?”

“Well. Maybe this one is. But…there is really a Candy Moth. He doesn’t only turn people into candies though. I can’t tell you who he is but…he changed me into a banana,” he cringed. “And, hum...what you see there in this coffin...it’s the magic banana. Once it is all peeled, I’ll stay a banana _forever_. I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you but now that you’ve _seen_ …”

Marinette fixed him as if he had grown a second head. Or a second skin more like.

“…You mean that you are a banana,” she said calmly. “…Oh my _croissant_. You ARE a banana. Like an actual one. How do you stop the curse? There has to be a way! Oh wait!! If you cut yourself you…won’t bleed but...will _‘smoothie’?!_ ” she said with wide eyes.

She didn’t know why she believed this crazy explanation but it totally made _sense_ in her mind. “Have you tried? Does it taste good?!” she said excitedly. Until she noticed his dejected expression.

“I… Don’t really wanna try, you know…”

“Oh, of course. Wait.” She suddenly had a thought. Her mind was racing until her eyes light up like she had suddenly understood something big. The candy cane outfit. The butterflies on the house floor and as his _logo_ of all thing. “Is…Is _Gabriel Agreste_ Candy Moth?!” It had to be! As crazy as this idea was to Marinette, it would _make sense_. “Or is it…his son, Adrien?”

“Oh, hum…” Bananoir stammered. “Well, you see, I mean…Nooo, what makes you say that?”

Marinette and Bananoir were so enthralled in their conversation that they failed to see the plushie bouncing up and down to try and get their attention.

“Well well well,” a deep and dark voice said from behind them, “if this isn’t quite a fruitful discovery…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...What is going on? Who is this dark voice no one is suspecting? How will Marinette and Bananoir get out of this one? When will they finally realise they are meant to be?! Will Bananoir finally be fruit from his curse and his terrible father?
> 
> Some of these answers will be found in the next update (and hopefully I won't forget to post it haha)


	6. Part 6.

_“Well well well”, a deep and dark voice said from behind them, “if this isn’t quite a fruitful discovery…”_

Marinette and Bananoir turned around, startled; only to find themselves face to face with no other than Gabriel Agreste, followed closely by a smirking Félix and a question-looking Nathalie.

“Please it’s my fault I—” started Bananoir, only to be stopped by a sign of the hand from Gabriel.

“Silence!” he cut him threateningly. “You don’t have a right to talk unless I tell you so, remember? I don’t want to hear you pathetic excuse anyway.”

Bananoir visibly flinched. Gabriel’s eyes slowly went from Bananoir to rest on Marinette who was looking both afraid and anxious as to what would happened, though her eyes held an underlying defiance.

“Miss Dupain-Cheng, may I ask what you are doing in _my_ house at this time of the night and _clearly_ uninvited no less?” Gabriel calmly asked her with a low voice.

Before Marinette could answer, Bananoir raised his voice again:

“She wasn’t uninvited, I did—”

“What do I need to do to make myself clear?” Gabriel sneered. “I was not talking to you, I have more dignity than that,” he said with a small laugh. His eyes never left Marinette’s.

“I, uh…I was… _jogging_ , and _hum_ …I happened to pass your house _completely randomly_ , sir, though I _didn’t know_ it was _yours_ , oh _clearly not_ or I would have _never_ come in at all and…B-but the lights were out! So I thought ‘ooh, what a nice _abandoned_ place, clearly it _must be_ haunted and I _need_ to have a look so I can play a prank on my friends and—’”

Gabriel made one quick step towards her so he was towering just above her. “You were jogging...alone at night...in the streets of Paris?” he raised a brow at her.

He paused so the only sound that could be heard was a heavy lapping against the roof and the window. “And in the rain?” he shook his head. “Do not try to tell me salads, Miss Dupain-Cheng...it would not be very...wise,” he growled, making Marinette flinch a little. “So now tell me again: What. Are you. Doing. Into my house. Tonight?”

Marinette kept silent.

“Pfffft,” a nasty laugh from behind Gabriel rang out, “she can’t even be bothered to find a good reason because she doesn’t have any!” Félix said in a mocking tone.

“Now now Adrien, my _dear son_ ”, Gabriel chuckled darkly while an audible gasp could be heard from Bananoir, as if he had been betrayed, “we wouldn’t want to make fun of our impromptu guest now, would we? No… This is not going to make her spill the beans. Or the bananas, more like,” he laughed at his own joke along with Félix and Nathalie. It was after all really hilarious.

Marinette fixed him with a black look.

“I went to see Bananoir because he seems _quite frankly_ alone and an _odd_ presence in your house, sir. Or should I say… _Candy Moth,_ ” she spoke.

Gabriel startled with a small smile. “Oh?” His eyes finally let go of Marinette to look at Bananoir instead. “You told her? We’ll be having some discussion about it…after I have dealt with your lady friend here…” he said while looking back at Marinette with a smirk.

The beginning of one appeared on Nathalie’s face who had stayed silent until then. “Do not tell me you’re going to use your _magic_ on her as well Gabriel?” she said with a glint in her eyes.

“Please do not transform her into something! She hasn’t done anything wrong! She doesn’t deserve it!” Bananoir exclaimed and pleaded while putting an arm in front of Marinette protectively.

“Change her?” Gabriel chuckled. “No… No I won’t do that. It would raise too much suspicions and we wouldn’t want that, would we Miss Dupain-Cheng? And I still need my intern at her full capacities,” he continued. “No… However, you will keep silence. After all, what can I risk? Tell me, Miss, what would happen if…say, you were to tell your wild discovery to anyone?”

Marinette stared in horror, understanding slowly washing over her. Gabriel chuckled darkly.

“Exactly, you’re getting what I mean. _No one_ would believe you. _No one_ would believe a _teenage girl_ like you over one of the biggest fashion icon of the century. At best they might think you are a delusional child trying to play a prank on an adult. I am famous, rich… You have _no_ leverage on me whatsoever. So this is what you are going to do.”

Marinette glared at him with all her willpower.

“You will stay quiet. You will not tell a _soul_ about what is happening here. You will go back to your sweet home and _never_ going back into mine. Ever. _Again_.”

“Or else?” Marinette asked through gritted teeth. An evil smirk appeared on Gabriel’s face.

“Or else…well, not only will I ruin your apparently promising designer career, but...let’s say that…I like my banana flambé with just a spoon of rum in the morning.”

A cold silent followed this declaration, Marinette staring in horror and Bananoir in sheer fright. Nathalie was rising her eyebrows as if not quite believing what she was hearing but also pleasantly impressed by her boss’ way of thinking and great generosity while Félix was looking at them with pure glee in his eyes. The gorilla plushie positioned itself in front of Bananoir, as if daring Gabriel to touch him. Unfortunately for it, it was so small that no one noticed it anyway.

“Now, if you would kindly follow me downstairs…” Gabriel indicated with a movement of the hand.

* * * * *

They all arrived into the entrance hall. Marinette was about to open the door but she suddenly stopped. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she turned around and opened them again to fix Gabriel with a death glare.

“You won’t get away with this!” she said.

“Oh, please…” Gabriel replied and turned to Bananoir. “See what your so-called friend is doing here? She is only putting you into more danger by her ridiculousness.”

Bananoir flinched but manage to send a dark look at his father.

“ _Oh please,_ ” mimicked Marinette. After all, she had nothing to loose as of now. “Let’s not reverse the roles here! Without you, Bananoir wouldn’t be transformed into a Banana! No matter how hard it will be, I will stop you! And you’re going to regret being Candy Moth and using your powers for evil!” she declared.

Gabriel looked surprisingly shocked by how daring Marinette was being. She couldn’t notice Bananoir fixing her in impressed awe due to his frozen stare. She turned her gaze to him and softened:

“Let me make this promise to you. No matter how long it takes, I will do everything in my power to help you,” she addressed him.

His mouth would have been hung open like a fish if it wasn’t already and his heart was doing summersaults. Marinette gave one finale glare to Gabriel who was fixing her with no hidden hatred as well as Félix, turned around and opened the door to go outside into the heavy rain.

“ _Wow,_ ” Bananoir muttered to his ears only, “ _I love that girl_...” He let out a shaky breath.

“Well,” Gabriel said, “she is quite the specimen”.

He was about to close the door but Bananoir made a beeline for it, grabbing an umbrella that was conveniently placed there for plot reasons.

“Hey!” he interjected, but Bananoir was faster and went outside.

Marinette had already crossed the front gate and was heading towards her home, cursing the rain.

“WAIT!” she heard.

She turned around only to see Bananoir running towards her. Her eyes widened as he walked on an abandoned banana peel and slipped (because it is well known that you promptly slip when you walk on one) and fell face first into a puddle of water. She came to him and helped him to stand up again.

“Thank you,” he said, and opened the umbrella.

Since his banana costume was too tall, the umbrella knocked him on the head when he opened it and Bananoir groaned.

“I wanted you to know…Thank you for what you did and...I am sorry for what happened with my—with _Candy Moth_. I swear,” he started. The rain was falling smoothiely above their head. A piano appeared in the corner and a man randomly passing by started to play a soft melody.

Marinette looked at Bananoir in awe. It was truly the nicest thing she had ever heard.

“I’ve never been outside the house much before. I’ve...Never had fruits—I mean friends. It’s all sort of…new to me,” he finished.

He then proceeded to hand his umbrella to Marinette and put it above her head. A quartet of violin, viola, cello and double bass appeared out of nowhere and joined in with the piano.

Bananoir was looking at Marinette with his usual peachy smile but she felt something within her stir. She returned his look with wide eyes and mouth hanging opened. A soft rumble of thunder could be heard in the distance while the rain continued to fall gently. She took the umbrella and blushed when their hands touched. But the umbrella closed on herself.

Bananoir promptly burst out laughing and _oh_ , it was such a sweet and smoothie sound! It was fitting so well with the music around! She looked at him and chuckled as well.

“Well,” he recovered, “I don’t know if we’ll see each other again but…until then,” he smiled shyly.

“Panini!” Marinette blurted out. “No, huuummm, I mean—Bananiversaire! Wait no! _Bananuit!_ ”, she finally managed to say.

Bananoir chuckled. “Heh, _Bananiversaire_. I’ll remember that one,” he whispered to which she giggled. “I’d better get going before they come after me."

She smiled sadly at that.

“Stay peachy, Marinette!” And with that, he turned around and ran to his house—without falling this time.

“Yeah...” she sighed. “Stay peachy…” she repeated dreamily.

She could feel her heart hammering loudly in her chest. _Wow_ , she thought, _who would have thought a banana boy could be so appeeling…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _*Bananiversaire sounds like "Bon anniversaire" meaning "Happy Birthday" in French ;)_
> 
> ____
> 
> Finally!! They are in L.O.V.E. ~ How will Marinette save Bananoir?! Will she learn about the cure of the curse? What other evilness have Gabriel and Félix planed? And more importantly: who is that damned gorilla plushie whose identity is still so secret for everyone and how did it end up as a plushie?!


	7. Part. 7

Marinette sighed, crossing wildly once again whatever schemes she was writing in her notebook. Nothing was working as she wanted and it was slowly driving her bananas.

“Heeeey girl, whatcha’ doing?” a voice startled her.

Marinette quickly hid her notebook in a not at all suspicious manner.

“Aaaaalya! Hahaha what a surprise! What are you doing here?” she asked a bit too forcefully.

Alya raised a brow at her. “Hum, going to class? Like I am supposed to do?” She sat beside her. “You’re here quite early, by the way. What’s the special occasion?”

“Oooh I guess I just woke up feeling peachy is all!” she giggled and blushed.

“O-kay. Well miss peachy, you’re in luck! My mother had a free day today and guess what?” Alya said happily. Marinette waited for her to drop what was so exciting.

“She made us delicious smoothies!” she exclaimed while dropping a huge one on Marinette’s table. Marinette looked at it with wide eyes.

“… Oh. Uh. Hum.. Thanks, you...shouldn’t have…” she said hesitantly. “Hum, what is the flavour out of pear—I mean _sheer_ curiosity…?”

“Oooh you’re going to LOVE it. It’s red berries, apple and banana!” Alya said happily.

“Banana.. Yes… Yes yes yes… Eeeeh…well…sorry Alya, hum…I don’t really like bananas.”

Alya blinked. “You don’t?!”

“No, not really.” Marinette answered, slowly pushing the smoothie back towards Alya. “I am so sorry…but, thank you for the intention! It’s greatly appreciated,” she smiled, embarrassed.

“Well…if you say so…but I can assure you that you don’t feel the taste of the banana you know. We mainly put them in smoothies to give it a certain texture.”

Marinette kept silence. “I’m…I just…” she struggled. Until something light up in her head. “I am allergic to bananas! Yes, that’s it! Yup yup! _Allergic_!”

“What? Since when?” Alya asked, surprised.

“Since, errr, yesterday! I’m so sorry, I didn’t want to be _unpeelite_...” and she giggled and blushed once again.

Alya sighed. “Okay girl, spill. What has gotten into you? First you’re _not so subtly_ hiding something from me in your notebook, then you’re here early, you’re newly allergic to bananas…and you giggle at every _fruit puns of all things_ you’re making!” She crossed her arms.

Marinette pondered. Should she tell her best friend? Would she believe her? Would saying anything to anyone put Bananoir to risk? She bit her lip and glanced at her notebook; all the plans to find a way to save him that she came up with had flaws. Because it was too hard to execute them alone. Marinette sighed and turned towards Alya.

“Well…there may be a reason…I’ll tell you during the break.”

* * * * *

Bananoir was going in circle in his room. He had been deeply scolded by his Father the day before; furious, Gabriel had even removed one strand of the magic banana’s peel, speeding up the curse’s process. Bananoir supposed that he deserved it…but then why did it _peel_ so unfair?

He knew Marinette would come back for him; she promised. But he didn’t want her to put herself at risk…and he…he loved her now. He was _in love_ with her.

She still didn’t know about the cure for his curse and he intended to keep it like that; what if she discovered it and thought he tried to manipulate her? Thought the reason he wanted to share all those macarons with her was so she could maybe fall in love with him? Not that anyone would love a punny banana boy anyway but…he had just really wanted to be her friend. No, it was better if she didn’t know. He just had to accept his fate…

* * * * *

“So. You’re telling me that…Gabriel Agreste, your fashion mentor and idol, is an evil candy cane that changed someone into a banana?” Alya said while rubbing her temples.

“Candy _Moth_ , not candy cane! But yes!” Marinette said.

“Right…the outfit confused me, sorry. And that there is a way to break the curse but you don’t know it. So you want to go back to find this cure without Gabe and his pet dog to find out about it,” Alya recapitulated.

“Yes! His pet dog _and_ his _annoying little pig_.” Marinette huffed.

“Pig that you used to have a crush on—”

“Please don’t remind me.”

“—that you abandoned in favour of banana boi. Yes. Sounds all about right.” Alya nodded with wide incredulous eyes.

“He gave me his umbrella, Alya! It was…so _romantic_ …” she sighed dreamily. She suddenly shook her head to refocus. “But we’ve gotta help him! You believe me, right?”

“As crazy as it all sounds, I know you. You wouldn’t be so serious and make up something like that. You know I have your back, girl. I’m in.” Alya said with a confident smile.

“Oooh thank you Alya, you’re the _best_!!” she threw herself into her best friend’s arms.

“Of course!” Alya laughed. “So, what’s the plan?”

Marinette smirked. “I think I’m starting to have an idea, I’ll tell you when it’s all clear in my head.”

“Good.” Alya stared ahead of her and saw Nino passing by. “What would you say if another person were to join us for ‘increasing chances of success’ reasons, though?” she said returning Marinette’s smirk.

* * * * *

Félix was smiling at the camera, taking poses after poses. Marinette wasn’t there that day for the internship and he didn’t know if he felt annoyed at the prospect of not being able to spite her or grateful for not seeing her despicable face. But that wasn’t his main concern.

No, Félix was planning. He had liked when Gabriel had called him his son in front of Bananoir. His shocked face that day had been so satisfying to watch. But that Marinette girl was threatening to break the spell. And he couldn’t allow it.

 _Yes_ , Félix thought with a smirk, _all I need is to find a way to get rid of Bananoir once and for all… So I can be_ fruits _of his nuisance and be the only one._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Omg! New characters!! Evil plans!! Will Félix manage to destroy Bananoir? Will our two lovefruits reunite? How long will they dance around each other before admitting their peelings? Will Gabe the cane eat his banana split with some rum or will he get a sour taste in his mouth instead?!


	8. Part. 8

“I don’t believe you.”

“What?!”

Nino sighed. “Alya, you’re expecting me to believe that your best friend fell in love with a cursed banana boy who is locked up in Garbiel Agreste’s house, aka her fashion idol and mentor.”

“Well, yes. I’m expecting you to believe me. What is wrong with it?”

“Everything. _Everything_ is wrong with it, Alya.”

Alya sighed. “Listen, I know it sounds crazy and I didn’t want to believe it either. But you have to trust me, okay? Marinette wouldn’t lie to me.”

Nino looked at her warily, before raising his eyebrows. “Okay. Okay, let’s say you’re right. What do you want me to do? Marinette isn’t allowed into the house anymore.”

“She isn’t allowed in the house _if_ Gabriel or his assistant or his son are aware of it,” she pointed out.

“What difference does it make, dude?”

She smirked, pulling out her phone. “I’m glad you asked, mate. You see, I just downloaded yesterday this very cool app…”

* * * * *

Félix was in his lodge, taking a break from one of his photoshoots. He was nonchalantly eating a banana, sitting in front of his mirror and looking at his reflexion.

Once he was almost done, he took a piece of the flesh and one of the peel. He opened the drawer under the desk on his right side and pulled out a small transparent box. Félix smiled, and carefully half-opened it, dropping inside the bits of bananas he had extracted before closing it.

He then held the box towards the light above his head and looked inside, watching with a satisfied smirk as the ants it contained started to eat his offering.

* * * * *

“So, are you guys in place?” Alya whispered in her earpiece.

“Yes!” Marinette answered, though her voice was muffled by the crash helmet she was wearing.

“I’m still not sure about this plan,” Nino worried. “Are you two sure it’s a good idea to break into someone _this famous’_ house?”

“Trust us, Nino, we thought about everything. And I’ve already broke into his house before,” Marinette reassured.

“Yes, once old Gabe finishes his work, I’ll call him and thanks to this super app I told you about that conveniently exists to suit our plan, I will be able to transform my voice to make it sound like Marinette’s,” Alya explained. “Then—”

“—then you will attract him where you are to have a ‘discussion’ about banana boy, and will project a hologram of Marinette again thanks to your fantastic app to keep him and his henchmen busy while we enter the house. I know that already,” Nino cut in.

“Exactly! It will work like an illusion! Nothing to worry about. Once I give you the signal, you’ll go inside of the house. And you, Nino, you can still watch out for any intruders,” Alya said.

Nino sighed. “I still don’t like it.”

“You’ll also need codenames!”

“What for? We’re already wearing costumes to hide ourselves, Alya. I had to dig my ninja turtle disguise from when I was 12 and _let me tell you_ I’ve grown since”, he said.

“Because spies have codenames in every missions,” Alya replied as if it was obvious.

“But we’re not even spies—”

“I’ll be Biker Bug,” Marinette interjected.

“Perfect! And you, Nino?”

“…Call me Carabubbles,” he sighed dejectedly.

“Awesome! I’ll be Wifi Rouge! Now, no one talks! I’m starting the call! And when I’ll say ‘banana split’, you’ll know you’ll have to go”, Alya informed them.

Nino and Marinette waited for a few minutes in silence. Until suddenly, they heard Alya’s signal and they discreetly approached the mansion.

Marinette’s costume was dark enough to not be seen into the night, which she was thankful for. As per usual, she managed to enter the house by ringing, this time accompanied by ~~Nino~~ Carabubbles.

“…Marinette? Is that you?” a shy voice asked once they were in.

“Bananoir! Yes, it’s me! I mean—you have to call me Biker Bug for now.”

“Oh. Why the ‘Bug’ in the name?”, he asked her.

“Well. Why the ‘Noir’ in yours?”

“…Fair enough. I’m so glad to see you!”

She giggled. “I’m bald—I mean!— _glad_ to see you too!”

Nino cleared his throat.

“Oh, sorry, this is my friend Nino! Right now he is Carabubbles, tough. He and Alya, or rather Wifi Rouge,—my best friend, remember?— are here to help me to distract Candy Moth so we can find a solution for your curse!”, she told him.

Bananoir’s eyes would have widened if not for the fact that they were frozen. “You are? Oh, thank you, I can’t peelieve you all came for me…”

“Ok dude, I have to admit that I didn’t believe them when they told me about you…but it looks like I was mistaken. So, like…you really are a banana…”, Nino said in amazement.

“Yes, I was transformed by my fath—Candy moth,” Bananoir answered sadly.

“Wow. And none of your friends have noticed? Or are willing to help you? Because you can’t have disappeared just like that, dude!”

He turned his head and looked away. “I…have never been to school and…apart from Marinette recently, and uh, a childhood friend of mine, I don’t really…have any fruiends…”

Nino stared at him with incredulous eyes. “ _Dude_ ,” he exclaimed. He then pulled out his hand to him. “I’m your best friend now. Really. I’m your dude, you’re my dude, we’re the best of dudes, I won’t allow you not having friends.”

Tears ran down Bananoir’s face as he shook Nino, or rather Carabubbles’ hand. “Thank…thank you, it means a lot…! I…I have a _best fruiend_!”

Marinette watched them with a happy smile. She then shook her head. “Okay, we won’t have much time. We need to find a solution for this curse. Bananoir, do you know if Candy Moth could have hidden some information about it somewhere here?”

“There’s his office next door, but I’m not allowed to go there. It’s highly protected by lots of security programs,” Bananoir answered.

“Hm,” Marinette thought out loud, “then there’s probably something to look for in here…but we’ll need a plan of actions before.”

“ _Guys,_ ” Alya’s voice— _Wifi Rouge’s voice_ — interrupted in Marinette & Nino’s earpieces, “ _it’s time to_ make a banana and split! _I managed to trick the bad guys but the conversation ran shorter than planned! They’re heading back!_ ”

“Bananoir, we have to go, they’re coming back,” Marinette told him, “but we’re not forgetting you! I’m not lettuce you down—I mean _letting_ you down—and we will find a peelution, errr— _solution!_ —, I _promise_.”

“I know you will. Thank you, you are all the _best_!”, Bananoir said gratefully.

“Yeah dude, I won’t give up on you, too. We’ll make sure to set you _fruit_ ,” Nino added.

“You…you make puns too…you really are my best fruiend…”

They smiled at each other, though only Nino’s was visible since Bananoir’s was permanently frozen and Marinette’s was hidden by her helmet.

They then stealthily stepped out into the night again, confidant that they would find a solution and _banan_ Candy Moth and his evilness from the city once and far all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh no! Bananoir still hasn’t told them about the solution to cure the curse! And is it some Bikernoir that was spotted? What has Félix planned with his ants?? I wonder…
> 
> Right now I caught up with where I'm at on Tumblr, so I'll just have to find time and continue writing this hahaaaa


End file.
